Rice Bran Oil Improves Emphysema in Cigarette Smoke Extract-Induced Mice through Anti-Inflammatory and Antioxidative Effects

Lung inflammation and alveolar enlargement are the major pathological conditions of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Rice bran oil (RBO), a natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidative agent, has been used for therapeutic purposes in several inflammatory diseases. This study aimed to investigate the anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effect of RBO on a cigarette smoke extract (CSE)-induced emphysema model in mice. The results indicated that CSE significantly induced airspace enlargement in mouse lung. Increased inflammatory cells, macrophage, and TNF-alpha levels in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) were noticed in CSE-treated mice. RBO (low and high dose)-supplemented mice showed decreased total BALF inflammatory cell, macrophage, and neutrophil numbers and TNF-alpha levels (p < 0.05). Additionally, the administration of RBO decreased the mean linear alveolar intercept (MLI) in the CSE-treated group. Additionally, RBO treatment significantly increased the total antioxidant capacity in both mouse BALF and serum. However, RBO did not have an effect on the malondialdehyde (MDA) level. These findings suggested that RBO treatment ameliorates lung inflammation in a CSE-induced emphysema mice model through anti-inflammatory and antioxidant pathways. Therefore, the supplementation of RBO could be a new potential therapeutic to relieve the severity of COPD.

Comparison of immunogenicity between intradermal and intramuscular injections of repeated annual identical influenza virus strains post-pandemic (2011-2012) in COPD patients

We compared the antibody responses and persistence of the reduced-dose, 9 µg hemagglutinin (HA)/strain intradermal (ID) injection via the Mantoux technique and the 15 μg HA/strain intramuscular (IM) injection of the repeated annual identical trivalent, inactivated, split-virion vaccine 2011-2012 in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients. Eighty patients were randomized to ID (n = 41) and IM (n = 39) groups. Four weeks post-vaccination, the antibody responses of the two groups were similar; those for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 and influenza A(H3N2)-but not influenza B-met the criteria of the Committee for Proprietary Medicinal Products (CPMP). The antibody responses for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 rapidly declined in both groups, especially with the ID injection, whereas those for influenza A(H3N2) maintained above the CPMP criteria throughout 12 months post-vaccination. The geometric mean titres for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 persisted above the protective threshold (≥ 40) until 6 months post-vaccination in both the ID and IM groups. The seroprotection rates of the ID and IM groups were above 60% until 3 months and 6 months post-vaccination, respectively. In conclusion, the 9 μg HA/strain ID injection of vaccine 2011-2012 elicited antibody responses similar to the standard dose of 15 μg of the HA/strain IM injection at 4 weeks post-vaccination. However, the antibody responses for influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 rapidly declined, especially in the case of the ID injection, whereas they were comparable for influenza A(H3N2). Additional strategies for increasing vaccine durability should be considered, especially for new pandemic strains affecting elderly COPD patients.